CLEMSON, S.C. – The 38th-ranked Virginia Tech men’s tennis team lost a close match to 17th-ranked Clemson on Sunday, falling to the Tigers 5-2 at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, S.C.

The Hokies (11-8, 4-4 ACC) split on the weekend, defeating Georgia Tech on Friday. Tech moves to .500 in the ACC after today’s match.

Clemson (18-5, 5-3 ACC) never trailed in the match, as the Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after winning all three doubles matches. The Tigers’ Alejandro Augusto and Robert Dudley teamed up to give Clemson its first win of the match, defeating Tech’s Hunter Koontz and Joao Monteiro 8-2 in the No. 2 match. Austin Ansari and Luke Johnson then clinched the doubles point for Clemson with an 8-2 victory over Florian Nicoud and Nic Wilson 8-3 in the No. 3 match.

In singles, Clemson extended its lead to 3-0 with wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. In the No. 2 match, Maden pulled out a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bjerrehus, who is ranked 120th in the country in singles. Augusto moved the lead to three in No. 3 singles, where he topped Koontz 7-5, 6-3.

The Hokies got on the scoreboard thanks to Aaron Gomez, who appeared in the starting lineup for the first time since the North Carolina match. Gomez defeated Clemson’s Zachary Kennedy 7-6 (13-11) 6-2 in No. 6 singles. Nicoud then put the Hokies within one, as he came from behind to top the Tigers’ Johnson in three sets. Johnson grabbed the opening set 6-2, but Nicoud won the second 6-4 before taking the third 6-3.

Clemson’s Harrington, ranked 82nd in the country, clinched the match with an upset over 19th-ranked Contini 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match.

In the final match of the day, Clemson’s Ansari defeated Tech’s Monteiro 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a three-hour long match in No. 4 singles

Virginia Tech returns home for a weekday match against VCU on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va.